doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Krag sporter project?

The black silhouette is from Lenz, showing where to cut a military stock to turn it into a rather classy sporter.

The Krag in the 2nd set is Terry Buffum's M-1898 Gallery Practice Rifle in .22 rimfire. This was originally a full-length infantry rifle. You can see that the magazine has been completely removed and the gap filled with a nearly matching piece of walnut. The barrel has been shortened to 25" and a 1903 Springfield front sight fitted.

The rear sight is a Pacific. It just screws into the place for the magazine cutoff. I had the elevator piece and the arm that held the aperture off the rifle when the photos were taken.

The first Krags converted to 22 rimfire were those fitted with Stevens-Pope barrels. Stevens sold a conversion kit. The original barrel was unscrewed and a Stevens-Pope barrel was installed. The barrel was bored eccentric to the line of the barrel, with the chamber high, at the 12:00 position, so that the issue bolt could be used. The soldier had to set his leaf sights at about 600 yards to get the bullet on target on an indoor range. The Stevens-Pope kits were apparently first sold about 1902. National Guard units in at least 4 states (PA, NJ, OH & WA) bought them and converted several of their rifles to full-time gallery trainers. If you have been in the military, you know that is not permitted. But the conversions produced results; soldiers who knew how to shoot. In 1905, the Army Chief of Ordnance ordered the Krags converted back to military rifles. The NG asked Springfield Armory to make Krags in 22 rimfire. Some 820 of them were produced in 1907 & 1908. Terry's rifle is one of the first, apparently chambered for 22 Extra Long RF. It has a .226" groove diameter and an 18" twist. Later rifles were given properly dimensioned barrels. Whether they were chambered for Long Rifles is unknown to me. Maybe they had Short chambers.

All the 22 rimfires were single shots. The empty cases fall into the space that used to be the magazine. To get rid of the empty cases, you open the bolt and turn the rifle upside down and then shake the rifle like a piggy bank.

The Springfield-made 22 rimfires have the eccentric chamber at the 6:00 position, so that the sights can be used in a more normal setting. The original bolt is used, but the extractor operates an auxiliary extractor much like the extractor on a Winchester Single Shot in 22 RF.

Terry loaned me this rifle last spring and I have been trying to get it to shoot accurately ever since. It is a frustrating process, made worse because the barrel looks OK, with only 2 pits and a bit of frosting. The best results so far are with hypervelocity ammo. I am now resizing loaded 22 LR ammo to .226, but those tests are not complete. I have also obtained some primed empty cases and I intend to cast some oversize bullets and breech-seat them.

The bottom photo of this pair shows how the long military stock was shortened. The lightening cut in the forearm was filled with a piece of walnut.

The top photo in this pair shows the trip pin. This was set into the left side of the receiver rail, with a corresponding small hole in the outside of the left side of the receiver. The trip pin causes the extractor to release the auxiliary extractor. The auxiliary extractor then snaps back into place, leaving the fired case on the loading tray or just barely in the chamber. There is no ejection. The shooter has to use a finger to flick the empty out of the way and into the void below the loading tray.

These Krag actions were the last ever made. SNs are higher than 475,000. I am not sure that they were case hardened in the same manner as the purpose-made military rifles. The bolt works with a herky-jerky movement, not at all the slick motion we expect from a Krag. Much of that is because pulling the bolt back compresses 2 small coil springs that are part of the auxiliary extractor. The trip pin adds to the bolt's tendency to bind.

The original magazine & follower were retained in the full military GPR. With the magazine in place, the left side plate was commonly removed to allow empty cases to escape from the rifle.

Most of the cut-down Krags have a filler in the front of the forend, that's why I spliced on a piece.

Would it shoot better with a complete rear sight

The rifle has a complete rear sight. Removing the bolt requires removing the upper part of the rear sight. I had the bolt out when I realized that our newsletter editor & photographer would be at the range for a morning offhand match. I already had my competition rifle packed up, so I put the Krag in its case and took it with me to the range. But only so that it could be photographed. The weather cooperated.

This thread's awesomeness knows few if any bounds... I am still amassing parts, and mainly am looking for vintage (or vintage styled) wood at this point. Any input?

Posted on the wrong thread, sorry.

Just ran up to town a few minutes ago and stuck my nose in the gunshop while I was at it. low and behold, there was a Krag sporter (poorly) for sale for $369.

Just to see if the magic would rub off on me, I picked it up and worked the bolt - indeed it is smooth. But no magic. I put it back. anyway, if one was looking for a good action the quick once over suggested this would be a good one - no pitting or anything obvious. I have no idea if that price is good or bad. Anyway, I can find it again if anyone is interested.

Brent

Interesting Brent I was just at a gun show in Pine City Mn and there was a sporter there also. However it appeared to be in pretty nice shape. It may have been reblued but was very good if it was. I didn't linger on it long but the seller was asking $475 if I remember right. I was writing in to see if anyone could tell me what the price range on these is. By the way no magic for me either. In total there were 3 of the krags at the show. Didn't really look at the others.